The Hands of Time (8 page)

“Where is everyone this morning?”  Mrs. Dobbs was alone in the kitchen and I had seen
neither Betty nor
Nell this morning.

“The girls went down to the farm.  I sent Nell for some butter and eggs
,
and Betty has reasons of her own for wanting to go.  Said she fancied a walk, but
I know
better.”  She gave me a conspiratorial smile.  “That girl is sweet on Toby, Nell’s brother, or m
e
name
ain’t
Mary Dobbs.  Finds any excuse to go to the farm to catch a glimpse of the lad.”

“Does he
like her?”  I hoped he did.  Betty was a sweet girl
,
and I couldn’t imagine that she would have too many young men to pick from in her current position.

“That he does.  I reckon there’ll be wedding bells
before Christmas
.”  Now that the small talk was out of the way, I got around to more prying questions.

“Mrs. Dobbs,” I began carefully, “Betty said that there were more people living at the castle before.  Where did they go?”  This obviously was a painful question, since the Cook’s eyes teared up
,
and she looked away for a
moment
before answering
, needing a moment to compose herself
. 

“It was five years ago that it happened.  July
of 1600.  The Mistress’s brother, Mr. Albert, stopped by to visit on
‘
is way from London.  Going to Truro, he was.  He was just going to stay the one night, but by
morning
,
‘
is coachman, Gregory had taken ill.  He was a good man, Gregory, but very fond of the brothels, if y
e
’ll pardon m
e
bluntness. 
Must have picked up the illness when he’d gone wenching. 
Mr. Albert
postponed
‘
is departure until Gregory
improved
, but he only got worse.  It was the bloody flux
, y
e
see
.”  Mrs. Dobbs whispered that last bit
,
and I could see the horror in her face as she recalled the events of that week.  I thought that bloody flux was
probably
dysentery
and could be fatal in this day and age
. 

“Mr. Alec and Mr. Finn were away at the time, seeing to their ship as they do.  The Mistress
forbade
anyone to summon them home. 
Did not
want them to take ill as well.  Gregory was the first to die, followed by Mr. Albert
,
and then by Mistress Julia and Master
Henry
.  Betty and Robbie’s mother died as well
,
and the groom
, Will,
who
shared the room with Gregory while he was here.  Mr. Charles and Mistress Violet were the last to get ill.  Mr. Charles recovered, being young and strong, but Mistress Violet suffered the most.  She was six months gone with her first babe and the sickness brought on her pains early.  She was in agony, poor lamb.  The baby was a boy and lived for a few minutes before dying in
‘
is mother’s arms.  She died the next day.”  Mrs. Dobbs wiped a tear from her plump cheek and took a long pull of tea. 

“Who
were
Mistress Violet and Mr. Charles?”  I asked, feeling a little guilty for being so nosy.

“Mr. Charles is the younger brother of Mr. Alec and Mr. Finn. 
Six
he was at the time
,
and Mistress Violet was Mr. Alec’s wife.  Mad with grief he was when he got back.  We thought he’d do himself an injury, poor man.  He was that in love with her.  They had been wed less th
a
n a year.”
  She reached for another bun
,
and I analyzed what she told me.  It must have been a terrible tragedy to come back to find their servants, parents, uncle
,
and pregnant wife all dead.  Unthinkable in my day.  I couldn’t begin to imagine what Alec must have felt when he learned his wife had died along with his first child.  I couldn’t help wondering what happened to Charles
,
and who Rose was.  I was wearing her things, but no one seemed to
ever
mention her.

“What happened to Mr. Charles
,
and who was Rose?”  Mrs. Dobbs finished chewing and took a sip of tea before
answering
.  “Mr. Charles was very sad after it happened.  He lost both
‘
is parents
,
and he adored Violet.  He took to
‘
is room and cried every night
from nightmares
,
calling out
to
‘
is mother
. 
Said
‘
is mother came to him, asking him to join her in Heaven. 
Mr. Alec did exactly the opposite and roamed the halls all night, unable to sleep.  We’d find
‘
im in the drawing room or the library in the morning, passed out
with drink
. 
‘T
was the only way he
could
go to sleep
and escape
‘
is grief
. 

Finally, Mr. Finn took matters into
‘
is own hands.  He took both of them to Virginia where their other uncle has a plantation.  He went out there as a young man and never returned. 
Came back to England once to find a wife, ‘e did
.  Mr. Charles loved it there so
much;
he wished to stay, so they left him there with the aunt and uncle. 
They
did not
know how to care for a young boy and Mistress Lottie was only too happy to play mother to the poor mite.  Now
Miss
Rose
,
that
was another matter.  She is their sister
,
and she is gone now.”  With that Mrs. Dobbs rose from the table and turned back to the pie she was making.  She obviously
wasn’t
going to elaborate on Rose
, so
I thanked her for the tea and buns and went back up and out into the garden. 

So, Rose was the sister of Alec, Finl
ay and Charles.  Mrs. Dobbs didn’t
say that Rose had gotten ill and died along with the rest.  She only said “gone
.
”  That was strange.  Where did a young woman these days go?  She would
’
ve said if she had gotten married and left to live with her husband.  Mrs. Dobbs sounded disapproving when she mentioned Rose, so it couldn’t be marriage
,
unless her husband was unsuitable and she eloped with him without the
consent
of her parents.  That must be it.  Strange that she seemed to leave her things behind.  I sat down on my favorite bench and lifted a bloom to smell.  I had to admit
that I wished Alec and Finn would come back soon. 
The castle felt empty and lonely without them
,
and I missed Finn’s admiring looks and Alec’s solid presence.   
Betty mentioned that
they might
be back tomorrow, but she wasn’t sure.  I had to admit that I was looking forward to going to see the ruins with Finlay.  Getting out of the castle for a few hours seemed like heaven at the moment
. 
I rose from the bench and began walking around the garden.  Beautiful as it was, it was beginning to feel
claustrophobic
. 

Chapter 1
1

Present Day

Louisa sat across from Mrs. Bradford in the empty dining room, her hands wrapped around an untouched cup of coffee.  It was Monday morning
,
and DI Mason and Sergeant Hawes from Plymouth had left the night before to return to their own
district
and file their report
.  She
’
d meddled in their investigation all weekend, but they didn’t uncover much more th
a
n Constable Tomkins.  Valerie had vanished into thin air.  There were no clues to be found
,
and the forensic
’
s expert who arrived with the Detective Inspector found absolutely nothing at the scene
,
except Valerie’s fingerprints and a few strands of her hair that must have
fallen
from her dress.  There were no signs of struggle, nothing missing
,
and not a single witness to the disappearance.  The trail had grown cold
,
and now Louisa was faced with the prospect of calling
m
om and
d
ad
,
and telling them that their younger daughter had vanished from a peaceful fishing village in the middle of the afternoon. 

Mrs. Bradford looked at Louisa with
undisguised
sympathy, not knowing what to say.  What did one say in a situation like that?  She
’
d see
n
Valerie shortly before she left
,
and the girl seemed in good spirits, talking about the sketches of the castle ruins that she left in her room.  She was off to the harbor to have lunch.  Nothing sinister
about that.  Something niggled at Mrs. Bradford’s memory
,
and she finally managed to
put her finger on it.

“Louisa, dear, I don’t know if this is any help, but I just remembered
something
odd. “  Louisa’s head snapped up, her eyes full of hope and Mrs. Bradford could have kicked herself for getting the girl’s hopes up.  “It’s not about your sister,” she said apologetically.  “It’s just that I suddenly recalled a similar case about thirty years ago.  I believe it was 1980 or 1981 when a young woman, a tourist, disappeared in much the same way.  I could have sworn it was from the same shop.” 

“Are you sure, Mrs. Bradford?  That would be some coincidence.  Can you remember anything else about the case?”  Louisa looked
slightly
more hopeful
,
and
Mrs.
Bradford tried hard to recall the details.

“I was around your age when it happened
,
and it was qui
te
a to-do at the time.  The young woman was from some Eastern European country
,
and the assumption was that she
’
d defected.  They searched all the airports and sea ports, but she never turned up.  She had a strange name,
Hungarian, I believe.  She did
n
’
t take any of her things
,
and her purse was still in her room with her passport and all her money.  She was last seen going into the antique shop, but no one saw her come out.  Did the police search the premises?”

“They searched the place from top to bottom.  There
’
s no basement and no secret doors or compartments anywhere.  There
’
s no place to hide a person, if that’s what you
’
re suggesting.  Mr. Taylor was very
accommodating
and showed the Inspector every nook and cranny of the place. 
Nothing.”  Louisa was there when the search took place
,
and she was satisfied with the knowledge that Mr. Taylor wasn’t some maniac who lured young women down into the cellar
,
and kept them captive as his sex slaves. 

“I’
ll look up the case, though.  1980 you said?”  Louisa was already at the computer, logging into her account and
searching
the key phrases.  A short story came up as
a
result of the search.  It seemed that a Hungarian student by the name of Erz
s
ebet Szabo, who was in the UK on a
student
visa
,
had vanished from the area on August 17
th
, 1981.  It was believed that the young woman didn
’
t want to return to her native Hungary
,
and acquired a false passport which she used to establish a new identity for herself.  The girl’s family disputed the story
,
claiming
that their daughter had been kidnapped.  Erz
s
ebet was never found.
 

“Not much to go on
, Mrs. Bradford,
”
said Louisa gloomily.  “Anyway, this was nearly thirty years ago
,
and could hardly be relevant.”

Louisa logged off and returned to the table to get her bag.  It was time to go to work
,
and since she couldn’t think of a single better option
,
she headed for the door.  She
’
d call her p
arents later.  She simply couldn’t
bring herself to speak the words out loud just yet.  She kept hoping for a miracle.  Maybe Valerie would simply show up after having some strange memory lapse
,
due to the stress of Michael’s wedding.  She knew it wasn’t really plausible, but one could hope.